European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - December 27, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Pago 10 the stars and stripes sunday december 27,1987 columns Anthony Lewis government secrecy is lust a grab for Power  by in government has a thousand fathers a thousand excuses. Hut Frank Carlucci the new Secre tary of defense came up Wilh a particular Gem last week. He testified that the president should nol have to inform the congressional intelligence committees promptly about Covert operations because foreign countries whose help we need do nol like the idea. These countries Don l always understand our institutions Carlucci said and simply cannot appreciate the oversight mechanism. They arc basically mistrust fun of the dissemination of a formation beyond the executive  in other words the United Stales has to trim its a site of government to Suil other countries Many of Triem tyrannies. Our constitutional Ideal of openness which has worked Well for nearly 200 years must give Way to values that Are less democratic and manifestly less successful. Carlucci and other officials testified against a Bill to make the president report All coven operations within 48 hours la is inc one piece of legislation to come out of the Iran Contra inquiry1, and it has bipartisan sup port. But president Reagan wants to keep the right to withhold information indefinitely in Esic Lional circumstances the loophole that he used to conceal the ran arms Trade for hostages. Of course the excuse of what other countries think is just that an excuse. The real reason for opposing this Bill is Power. The president and his people James Kilpatrick want he Power to Aci on their own. Without the inconvenience of having to explain and justify their policy. More than Ever now. Knowledge in government is Power. Every Effort by the executive Branch to keep is policies secret is essentially a grab for Power. Indeed it is the Currim habit of executive officials to claim that any Effort to keep he president account Able to Congress is an invasion of his constitutional Power. Under Secretary of stale Michael m. Armacost testified to Hal effect on the Covert reporting Bill. In Washington cily of preposterous arguments that mus have set a record for preposterous Ness. Congress Wilh its plenary authority Over what the government spends could at any Lime prohibit All Cov Ert operations. To require a prompt report on Ihm Isa far Milder exercise of its undoubted Power. Bui nowadays there is a cull of presidential Power on inc american right los spokesmen argue Hal pc is dents must be free to do a Halver they want in foreign affairs Slart wars spend Money ignore Congress. They talk As if there had never been in american re Volution or a Constitution. In Candor icy should Call themselves the George he Iii soc icly. Anyone seriously interested in How our constitutional system governs the conduct of foreign affairs should read the current Issue of foreign affairs. A. Profound and compelling article by professor Louis Henkin of Columbia University disposes of the claim that presidents can act abroad in disregard of con press Alexander Hamilton was. I i constitutional framer Nissl devoted m i vex mitc up War. Vet nol even he Monkin Points out. Claimed that inc Constitution gave the president any Siul Horii "10 act contrary to direction by  Henkin concludes Hal current dashes Over the Constitution and foreign policy Stem mid from constitutional uncertainties but from unhappiness Wilh. Even resistance to. Whal the Constitution  presi dents just regard inc cons Lillion is Mil of Dale for our world the royalist View of the presidency has in fad been tried in recent years and inc re card Speaks for itself. Presidents acted on their own. In secret Al the Bay of pigs in Vietnam in the Iran in Nora affair. Those exercises of Power Wilhour accountability were disastrous. It turns out that inc men who wrote our con Lilu Linn 200 years ago knew Besl after All. In foreign affairs As in Domestic policy ii Wiur when there Are Cheeks on its exercise. The Reagan administration has pushed inc claims of executive secrecy and Power to new extremes. A recent report by the civil liberties group people for the Ameri can Way traces the growth of secrecy in myriad ways a secret Pentagon Black  in reported presiden tial directives widespread censorship. It will be one of Ronald Reagan s most crippling legacies to this coun try Are Folwell s Hurt feelings grounds for libel suit should a Public figure win damages because his feelings have been hurl by a published attack the supreme court has the question under advisement after hearing Oral argument recently in inc landmark Case of Falwell is. Flym. It s a close question that merits careful thought. The Case arose in november i98j, when Hull or Magazine carried on its inside front cover whal appeared to be an and for Campari liqueur. The company had been running a series fads in which prominent persons recounted the first Lime icy tried Campari. But inc and in Hustler was a fake la was in the form of an interview with the Rev. Jerry fal Well in which he purportedly described the first time he had inner course with his Mother in an outhouse in Lynchburg. A. A twill was depicted As saying he regularly was sloshed when he spoke from his pulpit. Al the Bottom of the and in barely visible Type appeared a disclaimer and parody nol to be la Lien  Falwell reacted Wilh understandable outrage. Me immediately filed Suil against the Magazine and its publisher Larry Flynt seeking damages nol Only for libel but also for emotional  the unrepentant Flynt compounded the injury by reprint ing the phony and the following March n june of 1984, when Flynn made a taped deposition he was asked did you want to upset Rev. Falwell yes Flynn responded. He s a gluon. He s a liar  was t one of your objectives to destroy his integrity or harm it if you could to assassinate  the Case came on for irial and a Federal jury returned an unusual verdict. I found that Falwell had not been lib eled because no reasonable per son would have believed inc and was True. Bui inc jury awarded Falwell $200,000 in damages for intentional infliction of emotional disc Russ. Flynn appealed 10 inc 4lh . Circuit court of appeals which upheld the award in a split decision. Flynt then took a further Appeal to the supreme court which heard argument on dec. 2. Whai about ii the Case opens a Brand new Field of first amendment Law. Those of us who have spent our lives in the new business and especially in the editorial Side of the news business arc bound to View the Mailer Wilh concern. Public Fig ures historically have been attacked in the press and often these attacks have been rough among inc briefs on file Al the High court is an Tell user Iii Brief from the association of editorial cartoonists. The Brief depicts former budget director Bert Lance stealing from a Church collection Basket former in or Flynt which m two Cut of w sup wow few obsc�tiff7�s? Elerior Secretary Jim Wall gloating Al the stuffed head of Bambi on his office Wall and former rep. Wilbur Mills lolling drunkenly on a sidewalk. Beyond question these cartoons caused the victims emotional  is there a definable line is there some Point Al which cartoons or parodies or written editorials become so scurrilous so wilfully vicious so humiliating or degrading Hal they become Constitution ally indefensible Are in arc no limits to political parody or satire Falwell s attorneys contend that the first amendment will Noi shield intentional or reckless misconduct which results in severe emotional Dis Tress Flynt s counsel contends Hal the parody was not published out of any personal Tansmo Siviy toward Falwell or with any Ingeni to Hurt him bul Hal defense is patently unbelievable. The whole object of the Campari parody was to hurl flu Tell and Flint s animosity is on inc record. To the circuit court judge j. Hanie Wilkinson filed a thoughtful dissenting opinion. He was joined by three other members of the court. He raised a question should people in Public life Ever be Able to recover damages for no other reason than hurl feelings he thought nol. Wilkinson turned up his nose Al Hustler and the and. La was a tasteless silly and scurrilous Bil of  even so. He added nothing could be More threatening to the Long tradition of satiric commen tary than a cause of action on the part of politicians for emotional distress. Satire is particularly relevant 10 political debate because it tears Down facades deflates stuffed shirts and unmasks hypocrisy. By culling through inc con so rails imposed by pomp and ceremony la is a form of irreverence As Welcome As fresh  Wilkinson s dissent makes sense to me bul 1 wonder uneasily All the same. It font s brutal and malicious attack on Falm la was t libel what was if